#PesachPrep: T minus 24 days. Chometz U’Matza

There are many fascinating explanations about why Chometz is so verboten on Pesach, when it’s perfectly normal food the rest of the year. I won’t list all the reasons now. That’s a book.

But we should have some approach to it as we go into Pesach. So here’s one, alluded to on “T minus 26” of this series.

“Because the dough did not have time to rise before the Holy One Blessed is He redeemed them.”

Any good rebellion requires some planning. A prison break requires planning, including food preparation before the revolt and prison break. After all, if the prison is in the middle of the desert, the convict will just starve to death in a matter of days.

The fact that the Jews did not have time to have their dough rise is a testament to the fact that they were not the actors of their redemption. God was the Actor, and our input was as passive spectators to our own liberation.

Their consumption of Matza told the world that they had not planned this event. God planned it, and had been looking forward to that night for four centuries. “Leil Shimurim” means Long-expected night.

Our consumption of Matza, and avoidance of Chometz, relives that non-act, that “letting go” of the wheel.